Food additive

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The different forms of emulsifier lecithin – powder, two different concentration liquids, granular and powder lecithin

Food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavor or enhance taste, appearance, or other sensory qualities. Some additives, such as vinegar (pickling), salt (salting), smoke (smoking) and sugar (crystallization), have been used for centuries to preserve food. This allows for longer-lasting foods, such as bacon, sweets or wines.

Contents

With the advent of ultra-processed foods in the late 20th century, many additives having both natural and artificial origin were introduced. Food additives also include substances that may be introduced to food indirectly (called "indirect additives") in the manufacturing process through packaging, storage or transport. [1]

In Europe and internationally, many additives are designated with E numbers, while in the United States, additives in amounts deemed safe for human consumption are designated as GRAS.

Identification

To regulate these additives and inform consumers each additive is assigned a unique number called an "E number", which is used in Europe for all approved additives. This numbering scheme has been adopted and extended by the Codex Alimentarius Commission as the International Numbering System for Food Additives (INS) to internationally identify all additives (INS number., [2]

E numbers are all prefixed by "E", but countries outside Europe use only the number, whether the additive is approved in Europe or not.

For example, acetic acid is written as E260 on products sold in Europe, but is simply known as additive 260 in some countries. Additive 103, alkannin, is not approved for use in Europe, so does not have an E number, although it is approved for use in Australia and New Zealand. Since 1987, Australia has had an approved system of labelling for additives in packaged foods. Each food additive has to be named or numbered. The numbers are the same as in Europe, but without the prefix "E".[ citation needed ]

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lists these items as GRAS; [3] they are listed under both their Chemical Abstracts Service number and FDA regulation under the United States Code of Federal Regulations. [4] [5]

The FDA publishes a list of food additives for all approved ingredients. [6]

Categories

Food additives can be divided into several groups, although there is some overlap because some additives exert more than one effect. For example, salt is both a preservative as well as a flavor. [7] [8]

In Europe, flavorings do not have an E-code and they are not considered as food additives.

Safety and regulation

With the increasing use of processed foods since the 19th century, food additives are more widely used. Many countries regulate their use. For example, boric acid was widely used as a food preservative from the 1870s to the 1920s, [10] [11] but was banned after World War I due to its toxicity, as demonstrated in animal and human studies. During World War II, the urgent need for cheap, available food preservatives led to boric acid being used again, but it was finally banned in the 1950s. [10] Such cases led to a general mistrust of food additives, and an application of the precautionary principle led to the conclusion that only additives that are known to be safe should be used in foods. In the United States, this induced adoption of the Delaney clause, an amendment to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938, stating that no carcinogenic substances may be used as food additives. [12] However, after the banning of cyclamates in the United States and Britain in 1969, saccharin, the only remaining legal artificial sweetener at the time, was found to cause cancer in rats. [13] Widespread public outcry in the United States, partly communicated to Congress by postage-paid postcards supplied in the packaging of sweetened soft drinks, led to the retention of saccharin, despite its violation of the Delaney clause. [14] However, in 2000, saccharin was found to be carcinogenic in rats due only to their unique urine chemistry. [15] [16]

In 2007, Food Standards Australia New Zealand published an official shoppers' guidance with which the concerns of food additives and their labeling are mediated. [17] In the EU, it can take 10 years or more to obtain approval for a new food additive. This includes five years of safety testing, followed by two years for evaluation by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and another three years before the additive receives an EU-wide approval for use in every country in the European Union. [18] Apart from testing and analyzing food products during the whole production process to ensure safety and compliance with regulatory standards, Trading Standards officers (in the UK) protect the public from any illegal use or potentially dangerous mis-use of food additives by performing random testing of food products. [19]

There has been controversy associated with the risks and benefits of food additives. [4] Natural additives may be similarly harmful or be the cause of allergic reactions in certain individuals. For example, safrole was used to flavor root beer until it was shown to be carcinogenic. Due to the application of the Delaney clause, it may not be added to foods, even though it occurs naturally in sassafras and sweet basil. [20]

Hyperactivity

Although concerns have been expressed about a linkage between additives and hyperactivity, there is no clear evidence of a cause-and-effect relationship. [21]

Toxicity assessment

In 2012, the EFSA proposed the tier approach to evaluate the potential toxicity of food additives. It is based on four dimensions: toxicokinetics (absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion); genotoxicity; subchronic (at least 90 data) and chronic toxicity and carcinogenity; reproductive and developmental toxicity. [21]

Micronutrients

A subset of food additives, micronutrients added in food fortification processes preserve nutrient value by providing vitamins and minerals to foods such as flour, cereal, margarine and milk which normally would not retain such high levels. [22] Added ingredients, such as air, bacteria, fungi, and yeast, also contribute manufacturing and flavor qualities, and reduce spoilage. [23]

Regulation in the United States

The United States Food and Drug Administration defines a food additive as "any substance the intended use of which results or may reasonably be expected to result directly or indirectly in its becoming a component or otherwise affecting the characteristics of any food". [5] [8] In order for a novel food additive to be approved, a food additive approval petition must be submitted to the FDA. [1] The identity of the ingredient, the proposed use in the food system, the technical effect of the ingredient, a method of analysis for the ingredient in foods, information on the manufacturing process, and full safety reports must be defined in a food additive petition. [1] [8] The FDA evaluates the chemical composition of the ingredient, the quantities that would be typically consumed, acute and chronic health impacts, and other safety factors. [1] [8] The FDA reviews the petition prior to market approval of the additive. [1]

Standardization

ISO has published a series of standards regarding the topic and these standards are covered by ICS 67.220. [24]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aspartame</span> Artificial non-saccharide sweetener

Aspartame is an artificial non-saccharide sweetener 200 times sweeter than sucrose and is commonly used as a sugar substitute in foods and beverages. It is a methyl ester of the aspartic acid/phenylalanine dipeptide with brand names NutraSweet, Equal, and Canderel. Aspartame was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1974, and then again in 1981, after approval was revoked in 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stevia</span> Sweetener and sugar substitute

Stevia is a sweet sugar substitute that is about 50 to 300 times sweeter than sugar. It is extracted from the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana, a plant native to areas of Paraguay and Brazil. The active compounds in stevia are steviol glycosides. Stevia is heat-stable, pH-stable, and not fermentable. Humans cannot metabolize the glycosides in stevia, and it therefore has zero calories. Its taste has a slower onset and longer duration than that of sugar, and at high concentrations some of its extracts may have an aftertaste described as licorice-like or bitter. Stevia is used in sugar- and calorie-reduced food and beverage products as an alternative for variants with sugar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">E number</span> Codes for food additives

E numbers, short for Europe numbers, are codes for substances used as food additives, including those found naturally in many foods, such as vitamin C, for use within the European Union (EU) and European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Commonly found on food labels, their safety assessment and approval are the responsibility of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The fact that an additive has an E number implies that its use was at one time permitted in products for sale in the European Single Market; some of these additives are no longer allowed today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sugar substitute</span> Sugarless food additive intended to provide a sweet taste

A sugar substitute is a food additive that provides a sweetness like that of sugar while containing significantly less food energy than sugar-based sweeteners, making it a zero-calorie or low-calorie sweetener. Artificial sweeteners may be derived through manufacturing of plant extracts or processed by chemical synthesis. Sugar substitute products are commercially available in various forms, such as small pills, powders, and packets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Butylated hydroxytoluene</span> Chemical compound

Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), also known as dibutylhydroxytoluene, is a lipophilic organic compound, chemically a derivative of phenol, that is useful for its antioxidant properties. BHT is widely used to prevent free radical-mediated oxidation in fluids and other materials, and the regulations overseen by the U.S. F.D.A.—which considers BHT to be "generally recognized as safe"—allow small amounts to be added to foods. Despite this, and the earlier determination by the National Cancer Institute that BHT was noncarcinogenic in an animal model, societal concerns over its broad use have been expressed. BHT has also been postulated as an antiviral drug, but as of December 2022, use of BHT as a drug is not supported by the scientific literature and it has not been approved by any drug regulatory agency for use as an antiviral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Food coloring</span> Substance used to color food or drink

Food coloring, color additive or colorant is any dye, pigment, or substance that imparts color when it is added to food or beverages. Colorants can be supplied as liquids, powders, gels, or pastes. Food coloring is commonly used in commercial products and in domestic cooking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disodium inosinate</span> Chemical compound

Disodium inosinate (E631) is the disodium salt of inosinic acid with the chemical formula C10H11N4Na2O8P. It is used as a food additive and often found in instant noodles, potato chips, and a variety of other snacks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyclamate</span> Chemical compound

Cyclamate is an artificial sweetener. It is 30–50 times sweeter than sucrose, making it the least potent of the commercially used artificial sweeteners. It is often used with other artificial sweeteners, especially saccharin; the mixture of 10 parts cyclamate to 1 part saccharin is common and masks the off-tastes of both sweeteners. It is less expensive than most sweeteners, including sucralose, and is stable under heating. Safety concerns led to it being banned in a few countries, though the European Union considers it safe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neohesperidin dihydrochalcone</span> Chemical compound

Neohesperidin dihydrochalcone, sometimes abbreviated to neohesperidin DC or simply NHDC, is an artificial sweetener derived from citrus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saccharin</span> Chemical compound

Saccharin, also called saccharine, benzosulfimide, or E954, or used in saccharin sodium or saccharin calcium forms, is a non-nutritive artificial sweetener. Saccharin is a sultam that is about 500 times sweeter than sucrose, but has a bitter or metallic aftertaste, especially at high concentrations. It is used to sweeten products, such as drinks, candies, baked goods, tobacco products, excipients, and for masking the bitter taste of some medicines. It appears as white crystals and is odorless.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acesulfame potassium</span> Calorie-free sugar substitute

Acesulfame potassium, also known as acesulfame K or Ace K, is a synthetic calorie-free sugar substitute often marketed under the trade names Sunett and Sweet One. In the European Union, it is known under the E number E950. It was discovered accidentally in 1967 by German chemist Karl Clauss at Hoechst AG. Acesulfame potassium is the potassium salt of 6-methyl-1,2,3-oxathiazine-4(3H)-one 2,2-dioxide. It is a white crystalline powder with molecular formula C
4H
4KNO
4S and a molecular weight of 201.24 g/mol.

Brominated vegetable oil (BVO) is a complex mixture of plant-derived triglycerides that have been modified by atoms of the element bromine bonded to the fat molecules. Brominated vegetable oil has been used to help emulsify citrus-flavored beverages, especially soft drinks, preventing them from separating during distribution. Brominated vegetable oil has been used by the soft drink industry since 1931, generally at a level of about 8 ppm. Several countries have banned use of BVO in food and drink products because of the potential for adverse health effects in humans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Generally recognized as safe</span> United States government designation for food additives

Generally recognized as safe (GRAS) is a United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) designation that a chemical or substance added to food is considered safe by experts under the conditions of its intended use. An ingredient with a GRAS designation is exempted from the usual Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) food additive tolerance requirements. The concept of food additives being "generally recognized as safe" was first described in the Food Additives Amendment of 1958, and all additives introduced after this time had to be evaluated by new standards. The FDA list of GRAS notices is updated approximately each month, as of 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Food Additives Amendment of 1958</span>

The Food Additives Amendment of 1958 is a 1958 amendment to the United States' Food, Drugs, and Cosmetic Act of 1938. It was a response to concerns about the safety of new food additives. The amendment established an exemption from the "food additive" definition and requirements for substances "generally recognized as safe" by scientific experts in the field, based on long history of use before 1958 or based on scientific studies. New food additives would be subject to testing including by the "Delaney clause". The Delaney clause was a provision in the amendment which said that if a substance were found to cause cancer in man or animal, then it could not be used as a food additive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natural food</span> Food labeling and marketing term

Natural food and all-natural food are terms in food labeling and marketing with several definitions, often implying foods that are not manufactured by processing. In some countries like the United Kingdom, the term "natural" is defined and regulated; in others, such as the United States, the term natural is not enforced for food labels, although there is USDA regulation of organic labeling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psicose</span> Chemical compound

D-Psicose (C6H12O6), also known as D-allulose or simply allulose, is an epimer of fructose that is used by some commercial food and beverage manufacturers as a low-calorie sweetener. Allulose occurs naturally in small quantities in a variety of foods. It was first identified in the 1940s, although the enzymes needed to produce it on an industrial scale were not discovered until the 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glutamate flavoring</span> Generic name for flavor-enhancing compounds based on glutamic acid and its salts

Glutamate flavoring is the generic name for flavor-enhancing compounds based on glutamic acid and its salts (glutamates). These compounds provide an umami (savory) taste to food.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saccharin Study and Labeling Act of 1977</span> US law

Saccharin Study and Labeling Act of 1977 or Saccharin Study, Labeling and Advertising Act was a United States federal statute endorsing requirements for a scientific observation regarding the impurities in, potential toxicity, and problematic carcinogenicity of a non-nutritive sweetener better known as saccharin. The Act of Congress invoked an immediate eighteen month moratorium prohibiting the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare from pursuing regulatory implications by limiting the production and use of saccharin. The Act codified a warning label requirement advocating the non-nutritive sweetener had been discovered to yield carcinogenicity in laboratory animals.

The Food Chemicals Codex (FCC) is a collection of internationally recognized standards for the purity and identity of food ingredients.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Guidance for Industry: Questions and Answers About the Food Additive or Color Additive Petition Process". US Food and Drug Administration. 20 September 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  2. ↑ "Codex Alimentarius, Codex General Standard for Food Additives (GSFA) Online Database". United Nations, World Health Organization. 2025. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  3. ↑ "GRAS Notices". US Food and Drug Administration. 2 January 2025. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  4. 1 2 "Determining the Regulatory Status of a Food Ingredient". US Food and Drug Administration. 20 September 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  5. 1 2 "Understanding How the FDA Regulates Food Additives and GRAS Ingredients". US Food and Drug Administration. 6 June 2024. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  6. ↑ "Final Rules: Food Additives and Color Additives". US Food and Drug Administration. 25 October 2024. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  7. ↑ Erich Lück and Gert-Wolfhard von Rymon Lipinski "Foods, 3. Food Additives" in Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, 2002, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim. doi : 10.1002/14356007.a11_561
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Food Additives and GRAS Ingredients - Information for Consumers". US Food and Drug Administration. 24 May 2024. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  9. ↑ "Press release: Some Common Food Additives May Pose Health Risks to Children". American Academy of Pediatrics. July 23, 2018.
  10. 1 2 Bucci, Luke (1995). Nutrition applied to injury rehabilitation and sports medicine . Boca Raton: CRC Press. pp.  151. ISBN   0-8493-7913-X.
  11. ↑ Rev. Lyman Abbott, ed. (1900). The Outlook (Vol. 65). Outlook Co. p. 403.
  12. ↑ Epstein, S (March 1973). "The Delaney Amendment". Preventive Medicine. 2 (1): 140–149. doi:10.1016/0091-7435(73)90016-9. PMID   4803324.
  13. ↑ Reuber, M D (August 1978). "Carcinogenicity of saccharin". Environmental Health Perspectives. 25: 173–200. doi:10.1289/ehp.7825173. ISSN   0091-6765. PMC   1637197 . PMID   363408.
  14. ↑ Assessment of technologies for determining cancer risks from the environment. Darby, Pennsylvania, USA: DIANE publishing. 1981. p. 177. ISBN   1-4289-2437-X.
  15. ↑ Whysner, J.; Williams, GM. (1996). "Saccharin mechanistic data and risk assessment: urine composition, enhanced cell proliferation, and tumor promotion". Pharmacol Ther. 71 (1–2): 225–52. doi:10.1016/0163-7258(96)00069-1. PMID   8910956.
  16. ↑ Dybing, E. (December 2002). "Development and implementation of the IPCS conceptual framework for evaluating mode of action of chemical carcinogens". Toxicology. 181–182: 121–5. Bibcode:2002Toxgy.181..121D. doi:10.1016/S0300-483X(02)00266-4. PMID   12505296.
  17. ↑ Food Standards Australia New Zealand (2007). "Choosing the Right Stuff - the official shoppers' guide to food additives and labels, kilojoules and fat content". Archived from the original on 14 May 2009. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
  18. ↑ "Food additives". European Food Safety Authority. 3 January 2025. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  19. ↑ "Food additives". UK Food Standards Agency. 13 December 2024. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  20. ↑ Fennema, Owen R. (1996). Food chemistry . New York, N.Y: Marcel Dekker. pp.  827. ISBN   0-8247-9691-8.
  21. 1 2 Amchova P, Kotolova H, Ruda-Kucerova J (December 2015). "Health safety issues of synthetic food colorants". Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology. 73 (3): 914–22. doi:10.1016/j.yrtph.2015.09.026. PMID   26404013.
  22. ↑ Weaver, Connie M; Dwyer, Johanna; Fulgoni, Victor L; King, Janet C; Leveille, Gilbert A; MacDonald, Ruth S; Ordovas, Jose; Schnakenberg, David (23 April 2014). "Processed foods: contributions to nutrition". American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 99 (6): 1525–1542. doi:10.3945/ajcn.114.089284. ISSN   0002-9165. PMC   6410904 . PMID   24760975.
  23. ↑ "Food processing: The advantages of processed foods". The European Food Information Council. 1 May 2010. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  24. ↑ International Organization for Standardization. "67.220: Spices and condiments. Food additives" . Retrieved 23 April 2009.
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